< Numbers 14 >

1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried; and the people wept all that night.
Wherefore the whole multitude crying wept that night.
2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron; and all the congregation said to them,
And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying:
3 Would we had died in the land of Egypt! or in this wilderness, would we had died! and why does the Lord bring us into this land to fall in war? our wives and our children shall be for a prey: now then it is better to return into Egypt.
Would God that we had died in Egypt and would God we may die in this vast wilderness, and that the Lord may not bring us into this land, lest we fall by the sword, and our wives and children be led away captives. Is it not better to return into Egypt?
4 And they said one to another, Let us make a ruler, and return into Egypt.
And they said one to another: Let us appoint a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
5 And Moses and Aaron fell upon their face before all the congregation of the children of Israel.
And when Moses and Aaron heard this, they fell down flat upon the ground before the multitude of the children of Israel.
6 But Joshua the [son] of Naue, and Chaleb the [son] of Jephonne, of [the number of] them that spied out the land, tore their garments,
But Josue the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephone, who themselves also had viewed the land, rent their garments,
7 and spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, The land which we surveyed is indeed extremely good.
And said to all the multitude of the children of Israel: The land which we have gone round is very good:
8 If the Lord choose us, he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which flows with milk and honey.
If the Lord be favourable, he will bring us into it, and give us a land flowing with milk and honey.
9 Only depart not from the Lord; and fear you not the people of the land, for they are meat for us; for the season [of prosperity] is departed from them, but the Lord [is] amongst us: fear them not.
Be not rebellious against the Lord: and fear ye not the people of this land, for we are able to eat them up as bread. All aid is gone from them: the Lord is with us, fear ye not.
10 And all the congregation bade stone them with stones; and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud on the tabernacle of witness to all the children of Israel.
And when all the multitude cried out, and would have stoned them, the glory of the Lord appeared over the tabernacle of the covenant to all the children of Israel.
11 And the Lord said to Moses, How long does this people provoke me? and how long do they refuse to believe me for all the signs which I have wrought amongst them?
And the Lord said to Moses: How long will this people detract me? how long will they not believe me for all the signs that I have wrought before them?
12 I will strike them with death, and destroy them; and I will make of you and of your father's house a great nation, and much greater than this.
I will strike them therefore with pestilence, and will consume them: but thee I will make a ruler over a great nation, and a mightier than this is.
13 And Moses said to the Lord, So Egypt shall hear, for you have brought up this people from them by your might.
And Moses said to the Lord: That the Egyptians, from the midst of whom thou hast brought forth this people,
14 Moreover all the dwellers upon this land have heard that you are Lord in the midst of this people, who, O Lord, are seen [by them] face to face, and your cloud rests upon them, and you go before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, and by night in a pillar of fire.
And the inhabitants of this land, (who have heard that thou, O Lord, art among this people, and art seen face to face, and thy cloud protecteth them, and thou goest before them in a pillar of a cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night, )
15 And [if] you shall destroy this nation as one man; then all the nations that have heard your name shall speak, saying,
May hear that thou hast killed so great a multitude as it were one man and may say:
16 Because the Lord could not bring this people into the land which he sware to them, he has overthrown them in the wilderness.
He could not bring the people into the land for which he had sworn, therefore did he kill them in the wilderness.
17 And now, O Lord, let your strength be exalted, as you spoke, saying,
Let their the strength of the Lord be magnified, as thou hast sworn, saying:
18 The Lord [is] longsuffering and merciful, and true, removing transgressions and iniquities and sins, and he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation.
The Lord is patient and full of mercy, taking away iniquity and wickedness, and leaving no man clear, who visitest the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
19 Forgive this people their sin according to your great mercy, as you were favourable to them from Egypt until now.
Forgive, I beseech thee, the sins of this people, according to the greatness of thy mercy, as thou hast been merciful to them from their going out of Egypt unto this place.
20 And the Lord said to Moses, I am gracious to them according to your word.
And the Lord said: I have forgiven according to thy word.
21 But [as] I live and my name is living, so the glory of the Lord shall fill all the earth.
As I live: and the whole earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.
22 For all the men who see my glory, and the signs which I wrought in Egypt, and in the wilderness, and have tempted me this tenth time, and have not listened to my voice,
But yet all the men that have seen my majesty, and the signs that I have done in Egypt, and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now ten times, and have not obeyed my voice,
23 surely they shall not see the land, which I sware to their fathers; but their children which are with me here, as many as know not good or evil, every inexperienced youth, to them will I give the land; but none who have provoked me shall see it.
Shall not see the land for which I aware to their fathers, neither shall any one of them that hath detracted me behold it.
24 But my servant Chaleb, because there was another spirit in him, and he followed me, I will bring him into the land into which he entered, and his seed shall inherit it.
My servant Caleb, who being full of another spirit hath followed me, I will bring into this land which he hath gone round: and his seed shall possess it.
25 But Amalec and the Chananite dwell in the valley: to-morrow turn and depart for the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.
For the Amalecite and the Chanaanite dwell in the valleys. Tomorrow remove the camp, and return into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.
26 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
27 How long [shall I endure] this wicked congregation? I have heard their murmurings against me, [even] the murmuring of the children of Israel, which they have murmured concerning you.
How long doth this wicked multitude murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel.
28 Say to them, [As] I live, says the Lord: surely as you spoke into my ears, so will I do to you.
Say therefore to them: As I live, saith the Lord: According as you have spoken in my hearing, so will I do to you.
29 Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all those of you that were reviewed, and those of you that were numbered from twenty years old and upward, all that murmured against me,
In the wilderness shall your carcasses lie. All you that were numbered from twenty years old and upward, and have murmured against me,
30 you shall not enter into the land for which I stretched out my hand to establish you upon it; except only Chaleb the son of Jephonne, and Joshua the [son] of Naue.
Shall not enter into the land, over which I lifted up my bend to make you dwell therein, except Caleb the son of Jephone, and Josue the son of Nun.
31 And your little ones, who you said should be a prey, them will I bring into the land; and they shall inherit the land, which you rejected.
But your children, of whom you said, that they should be a prey to the enemies, will I bring in: that they may see the land which you have despised.
32 And your carcases shall fall in this wilderness.
Your carcasses shall lie in the wilderness.
33 And your sons shall be fed in the wilderness forty years, and they shall bear your fornication, until your carcases be consumed in the wilderness.
Your children shall wander in the desert forty years, and shall bear your fornication, until the carcasses of their fathers be consumed ill the desert,
34 According to the number of the days during which you spied the land, forty days, a day for a year, you shall bear your sins forty years, and you shall know my fierce anger.
According to the number of the forty days, wherein you viewed the land: year shall be counted for a day. And forty years you shall receive your iniquities, and shall know my revenge:
35 I the Lord have spoken, Surely will I do thus to this evil congregation that has risen up together against me: in this wilderness they shall be utterly consumed, and there they shall die.
For as I have spoken, so will I do to all this wicked multitude, that hath risen up together against me: in this wilderness shall it faint away and die.
36 And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, and who came and murmured against it to the assembly so as to bring out evil words concerning the land, —
Therefore all the men, whom Moses had sent to view the land, and who at their return had made the whole multitude to murmur against him, speaking ill of the land that it was naught,
37 the men that spoke evil reports against the land, even died of the plague before the Lord.
Died and were struck in the sight of the Lord.
38 And Joshua the son of Naue and Chaleb the son of Jephonne [still] lived of those men that went to spy out the land.
But Josue. the son of Nun. and Caleb the son of Jephone lived, of all them that had gone to view the land.
39 And Moses spoke these words to all the children of Israel; and the people mourned exceedingly.
And Moses spoke all these words to all the children of Israel, and the people mourned exceedingly.
40 And they rose early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, Behold, we that are here will go up to the place of which the Lord has spoken, because we have sinned.
And behold rising up very early in the morning, they went up to the top of the mountain, and said: We are ready to go up to the place, of which the Lord hath spoken: for we have sinned.
41 And Moses said, Why do you transgress the word of the Lord? you shall not prosper.
And Moses said to them: Why transgress you the word of the Lord, which shall not succeed prosperously with you?
42 Go not up, for the Lord is not with you; so shall you fall before the face of your enemies.
Go not up, for the Lord is not with you: lest you fall before your enemies.
43 For Amalec and the Chananite [are] there before you, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have disobeyed the Lord and turned aside, and the Lord will not be amongst you.
The Amalecite and the Chanaanite are before you, and by their sword you shall fall, because you would not consent to the Lord, neither will the Lord be with you.
44 And having forced their passage, they went up to the top of the mountain; but the ark of the covenant of the Lord and Moses stirred not out of the camp.
But they being blinded went up to the top of the mountain. But the ark of the testament of the Lord and Moses departed not from the camp.
45 And Amalec and the Chananite that lived in that mountain came down, and routed them, and destroyed them to Herman; and they returned to the camp.
And the Amalecite came down, and the Chanaanite that dwelt in the mountain: and smiting and slaying them pursued them as far as Horma.

< Numbers 14 >